impecunious

[im-pi-kyoo-nee-uhs]

adjective

1. having little or no money; penniless; poor.

   Synonyms: poverty-stricken, destitute

impecunious

/ ˌɪmpɪˈkjuːnɪəs, ˌɪmpɪkjuːnɪˈɒsɪtɪ /

adjective

1. without money; penniless

Other Word Forms

• impecuniously adverb
• impecuniousness noun
• impecuniosity noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of impecunious¹

First recorded in 1590–1600; im- ² + obsolete pecunious “wealthy,” from Latin pecūniōsus, equivalent to pecūni(a) “wealth” + -ōsus -ous

Word History and Origins

Origin of impecunious¹

C16: from _im- (not) + -pecunious, from Latin pecūniōsus wealthy, from pecūnia money

Synonym Study

See poor.

Example Sentences

Fans and players relatively unscathed, the pyramid structure affirmed, the current season’s integrity retained, clubs in trouble helped and the 14’s own playing staff not raided by clubs so impecunious they need their own goldmine.”

Read more on The Guardian

The Manhattan Institute’s Brian Riedl reports that the overall personal-savings rate soared from 8 percent to 32 percent: People are avoiding air travel and restaurants not because they are impecunious but because they are prudent.

Read more on Washington Post

As a young, eager-to-please novelist, he had transformed his impecunious father into the whimsical and charming Mr. Micawber of “Copperfield”; after his father’s death came a more selfish and unforgiving version in “Little Dorrit.”

Read more on Los Angeles Times

He wrote in a Nobel biography that he grew up in an environment of “secure but impecunious Midwestern academics.”

Read more on Washington Post

“On both sides my family were secure but impecunious Midwestern academics,” Dr. Anderson wrote in his Nobel biography.

Read more on New York Times